Mac vs. PC vs. Linux!

     Many people have strong emotions about their preferred OS (Operating System).  Mac advocates seem to be the most passionate, though, so I'll start there...

     It seems to me that Mac is widely considered the "expensive" OS.  Its for those rich people who don't know what they're doing, or the super smart people who really know what they're doing.  I'd say that has some truth, but not quite to that extreme.  Mac seems to be the most capable OS to me.  Its only drawback is that it doesn't have many games.  This can be good or bad.  You won't be tempted to play games, but you won't be able to if you have the time, either.  I've noticed that the price is reflected in the computer specifications, balancing out their cost.  There is no such thing as a puny mac computer.  The only ones that lack processing power are more than five years old, which is old by any computer standard.  Mac has jumped several compatibility hurdles by making their new computers with intel processors, just like PCs.  On campus, I've seen just about as many macs as PCs, so I think they are slowly taking the lead in the computer world.  Apple is also very nice about customer service, too.  Viruses are not enough of a issue to worry about, which is very nice.

     PCs.  Windows.  Everyone is familiar with it, because it is everywhere!  There are no compatibility issues, because everyone uses it!  The only problem with Windows is that it the most highly used, and the most attacked by hackers.  I'm told that the programming behind Windows is worse than terrible, but I can't say that with complete certainty.  It does seem to crash quite a bit, and have all sorts of general problems, though.  Then again, its easy to find help because everyone uses it!  I'm sure all of you use Windows on a regular basis, so I'll leave it at that. 

     Linux.   No one quite knows what it is, it seems.  The general understanding is that its that "Other OS" that remains a complete mystery.  In fact, Linux is just the name for the core building block upon which many Operating Systems are made.  Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, SusE, Lindows, and others are all grouped under the general umbrella of "Linux."  I have personally used Ubuntu (which uses GNOME as a GUI [Graphical User Interface]) and Kubuntu (Which is basically the same as Ubuntu, but uses KDE instead of GNOME).  I personally like Kubuntu better, but that is entirely personal preference.  The nicest thing by far about Kubuntu and the like is it is completely and totally FREE!!!!!  I received a Windows computer that had been totally loaded with viruses, and they said I could do whatever I wanted with it.  I put Kubuntu on it, and it is still running now.  Kubuntu seems to be the least stable OS, but it is also the most customizable.  If you break something, then you have to fix it yourself, but it isn't as hard as it may seem.  It is designed to be altered and changed, so it is very user friendly in that way.  It isn't nearly as user friendly if you're just trying to use it, though.  It isn't too much like Windows or Mac, but it isn't totally dissimilar, either.  I just had to figure it out, but that wasn't too hard.  All of the programs are free, games, word processing, graphics editing, media playback, you name it.

    Kubuntu is probably my favorite OS, but it isn't very compatible, so I got a MacBook.  I really like it, but I did install Windows on a partition so that I could do some gaming and other Windows-only stuff.  If I get the chance, I'm going to put another partition on it and put Kubuntu, because its just so much fun to play around with.